Method and apparatus for a safety beacon for a welding protection device

ABSTRACT

A protection device is disclosed, where the protection device comprises an eye protection shield, a light beacon, and a control circuitry to control the light beacon.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to a welding protection device for auser, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for a safetybeacon for a welding protection device.

Limitations and disadvantages of conventional systems for a weldingprotection device, such as, for example, welding helmets, weldinggoggles, etc., will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such approaches with some aspects of the present methodand system set forth in the remainder of this disclosure with referenceto the drawings.

SUMMARY

Methods and systems are provided for a safety beacon for a weldingprotection device, substantially as illustrated by and described inconnection with at least one of the figures, as set forth morecompletely in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects will become apparent and more readilyappreciated from the following description of some examples of thedisclosure, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1A is a drawing of an example welding protection device with afirst example of a light beacon, in accordance with aspects of thedisclosure.

FIG. 1B is a drawing of another example welding protection device with asecond example of a light beacon, in accordance with aspects of thedisclosure.

FIG. 1C shows a drawing of an example control circuitry on the weldingprotection device in accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a drawing of an example control circuitry in accordance withaspects of the disclosure.

FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C are flow diagrams for examples of controlling alight beacon on the welding protection device in accordance with aspectsof the disclosure.

The drawings are not necessarily to scale. Where appropriate, similar oridentical reference numbers are used to identify similar or identicalelements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A welding protection device is used to protect the welder from theintense heat and brightness generated by a welding torch in use.However, it may be useful to be able to warn others of ongoing weldingwork at a location to keep other people from wandering too close to thework area. Accordingly, various aspects of the disclosure are presentedto provide visual warning with a light beacon, as well as with audiowarning via a speaker.

FIG. 1A illustrates an example welding protection device 100 thatcomprises a light beacon 102A and an eye protection shield 104. There isalso shown a visor 103, control circuitry 106, and a speaker 108.

The light beacon 102A may be, for example, a light reflecting device,light emitting device, or a combination of a light reflecting device anda light emitting device. While FIG. 1A shows the light beacon 102A as asingle beacon, other aspects of the disclosure may have multiple lightbeacons. The light beacon 102A may comprise one or more light emittingdevices and/or light reflecting devices. For example, the light beacon102A may comprise one or more LEDs, light bulbs, reflective devices,and/or any other suitable light emitting device and/or light reflectingdevice.

In FIG. 1A, the light beacon 102A is located at the top of the weldingprotection device 100. This allows the emitted light from the lightbeacon 102A to be seen in substantially all directions around thewelding protection device 100. The light may be emitted in all 360° orthe light may be emitted in a portion of 360° such that the emittedlight can be seen from substantially all directions in line of sight ofthe light beacon and/or a welding arc from a welding torch used by thewelder that is wearing the welding protection device 100. For example,the light from the light beacon 102A may comprise a plurality of lightrays such that the light beacon 102A is visible from substantially alldirections. Accordingly, the emitted light may be said to be emitted insubstantially all directions. For example, the light beacon 102A mayemit light on all sides and/or on top, or the light beacon 102A may emitlight at a portion of each side and/or on top.

Other examples may allow placement of the light beacon 102A, which maycomprise a plurality of light beacons, at other parts of the weldingprotection device 100. For example, the light beacon 102A may be placedtoward the rear of the top portion of the welding protection device 100,or several light beacons 102A at various locations around thecircumference of the welding protection device 100. The light beacon102A may be at a rear portion of the welding protection device 100, forexample, for the occasions when the workpiece being welded is largeenough to block the area in front of the workpiece. Accordingly, thelight beacon 102A may be placed at a different part of the weldingprotection device 100. The light beacon 102A may be, for example,removed and moved to different positions or moved along a predeterminedpath such as a groove or a rail.

The light beacon 102A may be secured to the welding protection device100 by any appropriate method. For some aspects of the disclosure thatutilizes permanent placement, the light beacon 102A may be integratedinto or on to the welding protection device 100. For those aspects ofthe disclosure that utilizes movable light beacon 102A, the light beacon102A may be, for example, magnetically secured, via a latch or a holdingmechanism, via an arm riding in a groove where an end of the arm in thegroove prevents the welding protection device 100 from falling out, viaan arm riding on a rail, etc. There may be a screw that can be used totighten the arm at the desired location of the groove or rail. The armmay also have a clamping mechanism that expands when the clampingmechanism is released to secure the light beacon 102A to the groove, orthe clamping mechanism tightens when released to grip the rail to securethe light beacon 102A. The light beacon 102A may also be secured to thewelding protection device 100 by, for example, hook-and-loop fasteners.Therefore, various aspects of the disclosure can use any of thedifferent types of fasteners that is suitable.

The light beacon 102A is provided with power by one or more of variouspower sources (not shown). For example, the light beacon 102A may have abattery located as a part of the light beacon 102A. Additionally oralternatively, the light beacon 102A may be provided power by a batterypack mounted on or in the welding protection device 100. The lightbeacon 102A may also be provided power by a remote power source that iscarried by the welder, such as, for example, a battery pack that isattached to equipment carried or used by the welder, or clothes or beltworn by the welder. The light beacon 102A may also receive power from aremote power source that is not carried by the welder. For example, thepower source may provide power via a power line to the weldingprotection device 100 or the light beacon 102A, or wirelessly to thewelding protection device 100 or the light beacon 102A. When the poweris provided to the welding protection device 100, the light beacon 102Amay be powered, for example, by a power line from the welding protectiondevice 100.

In some examples of the disclosure, the light beacon 102A may not beremovable, while in other examples of the disclosure may have removablelight beacons 102A. The removable light beacon 102A may be tethered tothe welding protection device 100 or may be completely separable so thatit can be placed on another object. In some examples, only a portion ofthe light beacon 102A may be removable. This may allow, for example, useof a portion of the light beacon 102A on the welding protection device100 as well as having another portion of the light beacon 102A onanother object.

The visor 103 may be configured to block at least some of the lightemitted by the light beacon 102A from affecting, for example, anauto-darkening feature for a welding helmet. While an example visor 103is shown, other visors 103 may have different shapes and/or dimensions.In some examples of the disclosure, the visor 103 may be permanentlymounted to the welding protection device 100 or a part of the weldingprotection device 100, while other examples of the disclosure may havethe visor 103 removably attached to the welding protection device 100.The visor 103 may be attached to the top of the welding protectiondevice 100 or to the eye protection shield 104. The visor 103 may alsocomprise, for example, a structure near a light sensor (not shown) usedfor the auto-darkening feature to block light from the light beacon 102.For example, the visor 103 may be a lip above a light sensor when thelight sensor is below the light beacon 102. The control circuitry 106and the speaker 108 are described in more detail with respect to FIGS.1C and 2.

The eye protection shield 104 may be any shield that protects a welder'seyes. For example, the eye protection shield 104 may be a welding faceshield that can be raised or lowered to cover the welder's eyes and/orface, welder's goggles/glasses that protect the welder's eyes, etc.Accordingly, when the visor 103 is attached to the welding protectiondevice 100, the eye protection shield 104 may be configured to beraised, for example, over the light beacon 102A and the visor 103.

In various aspects of the disclosure, the light beacon 102A may beturned on when a sensor detects a first appropriate input and turned offwhen the sensor detects a second appropriate input. For example, amotion detector, a proximity sensor, a switch, etc. may detect that thewelding protection device 100 has been put on or taken off by thewelder, and respectively turn on or turn off the light beacon 102A.Similarly, a motion detector, a proximity sensor, a switch, etc., maydetect that the eye protection shield 104 has been lowered or raised bythe welder, and respectively turn on or turn off the light beacon 102A.A camera may also be used where the image(s) can be processed todetermine the appropriate first and second appropriate inputs. Somewelding protection device 100 may have an auto-darkening feature for theeye protection shield 104. The light beacon 102A may use a similar inputwhere an intensity of light from a welding torch (not shown) may besensed to turn on the light beacon 102A, and turn off the light beacon102A when the welding torch is, for example, shut off. When theauto-darkening feature of the eye protection shield 104 is controlled byan external device, such as, for example, a control circuitry 200 ofFIG. 2, a control signal for auto-darkening the eye protection shield104 may also be used to control the light beacon 102A.

FIG. 1B is a drawing of the example welding protection device 100 with adifferently shaped light beacon 102B. Referring to FIG. 1B, the weldingprotection device 100 is similar to the welding protection device 100 ofFIG. 1A except for the shape of the light beacon 102B. While FIG. 1Ashows the light beacon 102A with a lower profile, the light beacon 102Bhas a higher profile. Accordingly, various aspects of the disclosureprovides that the shape of a light beacon 102, examples of which are atleast 102A and 102B, round, oval, or any shape that allows light fromthe light beacon 102, whether reflected or emitted, to be seen by othersaround the welder. For example, the light beacon 102 may be as shown inFIGS. 1A and 1B, or the light beacon 102 may be round. Another exampleof the light beacon 102 may be a rotating light, whether the lightemitting device is rotating, or the light is reflected or controlled tohave it shine for at least a portion of 360°.

It should be understood that example welding protection device 100 maycomprise the visor 103, whether the visor 103 is removably mounted orpermanently mounted, or an example welding protection device 100 may nothave a visor 103 if it is not needed because the welding protectiondevice 100 does not have an auto-darkening feature or because the visoris local to just around the light sensor for the auto-darkening feature.

FIG. 1C is a drawing of the example welding protection device 100 withcontrol circuitry 106 for controlling the light beacon 102 and a speaker108. The control circuitry 106 may allow turning on/off the light beacon102, flashing the light emitted by the light beacon 102, etc. The lightbeacon 102 may be one of the light beacons 102A or 102B, or any similarlight beacon. The control circuitry 106 may comprise, for example, oneor more input devices such as one or more rotatable knobs 110, and oneor more switches 112, which may comprise, for example, push-buttonswitch(es), toggle switch(es), etc. The control circuitry 106 may alsocomprise other types of input devices such as, for example, a touchsensitive panel 114 that may incorporate the functionalities of therotatable knob(s) 110 and the switch(es) 112.

The control circuitry 106 may also be used to adjust an intensity of thelight emitted by the light beacon 102. The intensity may be controlledby, for example, the slide switch 112 or the rotatable knob 110.Additionally or alternatively, the control circuitry 106 may controlaspects of the light beacon 102 based on the local environment and/oractivity near the welding protection device 100. For example, if thereis a low ambient light, the control circuitry 106 may automaticallyreduce the intensity of the light beacon 102. Conversely, if there is abrighter ambient light, the control circuitry 106 may automaticallyincrease the intensity of the light beacon.

While the control circuitry 106 is shown on the left cheek portion ofthe welding protection device 100, various aspects of the disclosure mayhave the control circuitry 106 at any one of various locations on thewelding protection device 100 or on multiple locations of the weldingprotection device 100. For example, there may be a first controlcircuitry 106 on the left cheek of the welding protection device 100 asshown in FIGS. 1A-1C and a second control circuitry 106 on the rightcheek of the welding protection device 100. The multiple controlcircuitries 106 on a welding protection device 100 may allow for easiermanipulation of control devices when the user is wearing, for example,bulky welding gloves or other protection.

The control circuitry 106 may also be inside the welding protectiondevice 100, and may comprise touch sensitive control devices % The touchsensitive control devices may be, for example, the touch sensitive panel114.

While the control circuitry 106 has been described as being on thewelding protection device 100, various examples of the disclosure mayalso provide for the control circuitry 106 to be external to the weldingprotection device 100 in place of, or in addition to, being on thewelding protection device 100. This may allow, for example, largercontrol devices that can be more easily manipulated by a user wearing,for example, bulky welding gloves. The external control circuitry 106may communicate with the control circuitry 106 on the welding protectiondevice 100 via wireless or wired communication using, for example,communication interface 230 (FIG. 2).

The control circuitry 106 may further control the flashing of the light.For example, to turn off the flashing to have a steady light, or to turnon the flashing. Accordingly, various aspects of the disclosure may havethe light beacon 102 that can turn on or off, and other aspects of thedisclosure may have the light beacon 102 that can also flash the lightbeacon 102 when it is turned on.

When the light beacon 102 is controlled to emit flashing light, thecontrol circuitry 106 may also be able to control a duty cycle of theflashing light, where the duty cycle indicates the duration of theperiod when the light is turned on and the duration of the period whenthe light is turned off. The flashing light may also change from a firstintensity of light to a second intensity of light. The flashing lightmay also brighten over a period of time and then dim over a period oftime. Accordingly, the duty cycle may control the time that the flashinglight is at the first intensity, which may be when the light is turnedoff or at some light level, and the time that the flashing light is atthe second intensity. Therefore, the duty cycle may also indicate thebrightening period and the dimming period. Various aspects of thedisclosure may have a default duty cycle for the flashing light.

As the control circuitry 106 may be used to control the flashing lightperiods, some aspects of the disclosure may keep a previously selectedduty cycle. Accordingly, if the default duty cycle is not changed, thenthe default duty cycle is used when the light beacon 102 is turned onand set to flash. Various example control circuitry 106 may be able tostore several duty cycles, including the default duty cycle, and theuser may select one of those duty cycles. Some examples of selecting aduty cycle may be, for example, rotating a knob to control a duration ofa period when flashing light is on, moving a slide switch to control aduration of a period when flashing light is on, touching a touch panelon the control circuitry 106 to control a duration of a period whenflashing light is on, pushing a button repeatedly, pushing one ofseveral buttons, speaking a command (for example, “50% duty cycle”),etc. Accordingly, the duty cycle may be changed, for example, via thecontrol circuitry 106, where the control circuitry 106 may compriseusing any appropriate methods/devices that are known or may be developedin the future.

Various aspects of the disclosure may also have the light beacon 102emit different colors of lights. For example, the light beacon 102 mayemit a first color light for a first period of time, then a second colorlight for a second period of time, etc., where the first and secondperiods of time may be fixed or variable. The colors emitted and thedurations of the first and second periods may have default values, whichmay be changed, for example, via the control circuitry 106 using anyappropriate methods/devices that are known or will be developed in thefuture.

Additionally, with some aspects of the disclosure, the weldingprotection device 100 may have a light beacon 102 that can flash lightsthat are different colors where the period during which the lights maybe off may also be adjustable. Furthermore, one or more colors may beselected to flash multiple times before the next color light is emitted.Accordingly, the control circuitry 106 may be able to control the lightbeacon 102 to provide various light patterns with the duty cycle asdescribed above.

The control circuitry 106 may also control output of various sounds orsound patterns, such as, for example, words, sirens, etc., via thespeaker 108. The control circuitry 106 may be able to turn the speaker108 off or turn the speaker 108 on to output the various sounds or soundpatterns. Turning the speaker 108 on may comprise providing electricalinput to be converted to sound, or may comprise controlling circuitrysuch as, for example, amplifier circuitry (not shown) for the speaker108. The amplifier circuitry may be, for example, part of the controlcircuitry 106.

The control circuitry 106 may also control, for example, the volume ofsound output by the speaker 108. The sound volume may be controlled, forexample, by a rotatable knob 110, a switch(es) 112 such as a slideswitch, push-button switch, etc. The sound volume may also be, forexample, controlled automatically by the control circuitry 106 dependingon the ambient sound detected by, for example, the input devices 242(FIG. 2), which may comprise a microphone 243. For example, with respectto FIG. 2, the processor 210 may process the detected sound to determinethe output sound volume of the speaker 108.

The speaker 108 is shown in FIG. 1C as being near the chin portion ofthe welding protection device 100. However, various aspects of thedisclosure may have the speaker 108 at other parts of the weldingprotection device 100, and there may be more than one speaker 108 on thewelding protection device 100.

In various aspects of the disclosure, the speaker 108 may emit warningsounds when the light beacon 102, 102A, or 102B is turned on.

The control circuitry 106 is described in more detail with respect toFIG. 2. The visor 103 is not shown in FIG. 1C, however, it should beunderstood that the example welding protection device 100 may comprisethe visor 103, whether the visor 103 is removably mounted or permanentlymounted.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of an example control circuitry inaccordance with various aspects of the disclosure. Referring to FIG. 2,there is shown an example control circuitry 200 that may be used invarious aspects of the disclosure. The control circuitry 200 maycomprise, for example, a processor 210, memory 220, a communicationinterface 230, and an IO interface 240. The processor 210 may comprise,for example, one or more processors.

The memory 220 may include non-volatile memory 226 and volatile memory228. The storage described for holding local data may be part of thememory 220 or comprise separate memory. The operating system 222 andapplications 224 may be stored in, for example, the non-volatile memory226, and may be copied to volatile memory 228 for execution by theprocessor 210. Various aspects of the disclosure may use differentmemory architectures that are design and/or implementation dependent.For example, some aspects of the disclosure may have the operatingsystem 222 and applications 224 in the non-volatile memory 226 executedat least in part from the non-volatile memory 226.

The communication interface 230 may allow the control circuitry 200 tocommunicate with other devices via, for example, a wired protocol suchas USB, Ethernet, Firewire, etc., or a wireless protocol such asBluetooth, Near Field Communication (NFC), Wi-Fi, etc. The wired orwireless protocol may also be, for example, a proprietary protocol. Thevarious types of radios for communication may be referred to as atransceiver for the sake of simplicity. The communication may be, forexample, with various sensors and/or devices that can relay sensor data.The communication interface 230 may also be used to communicate withother networks such as local networks, cellular networks, etc.

The control circuitry 200 may also comprise the IO module 240 forcommunication with a user via the input devices 242 and outputinformation to be displayed on output devices 244. The input devices 242may comprise, for example, switches, slide switches, membrane switches,buttons, touch sensitive screen, which may be a part of a display, amicrophone 243, etc. The touch sensitive screen may have soft buttons,switches, slide switches, etc. that emulate their physical counterparts.The input devices 242 may also comprise, for example, various sensors245, cameras, etc. The output devices 244 may comprise, for example,display(s), speaker(s), LED(s), vibration motor(s), etc. Supportcircuitry for the various output devices 244 may also be considered apart, of the output devices 244. For example, the support circuitry forthe speaker 244 may comprise a digital-to-analog converter, anamplifier, etc. Accordingly, in some aspects of the disclosure, thelight beacon 102, 102A, or 102B may be thought of as being logicallygrouped with the control circuitry 200. In other aspects of thedisclosure, the light beacon 102, 102A, or 102B may not be logicallygrouped with the control circuitry 200.

The processor 210 may operate using different architectures in differentexamples. For example, the processor 210 may use the memory 220 to storeinstructions to execute, or the processor 210 may have its own memory(not shown) for its instructions.

Various examples of the disclosure may use other architectures where thedifferent functionalities may be grouped differently. For example, thegrouping may be in different integrated circuit chips. Or, the groupingmay combine different devices such as the IO module 240 and thecommunication interface 230 together, etc. Additionally, the controlcircuitry 200 may refer logically to various physical devices. Forexample, one or more of the output devices 244 may be at a differentlocation than one or more of the input devices 242.

While various physical devices, including a touch panel, have beendescribed as controlling various functions of the welding protectiondevice 100, voice may also be used to give commands to control thevarious functions. The voice input may be received by, for example, amicrophone 243 that is a part of the input devices 242 of the controlcircuitry 200. The digitized commands may be processed by, for example,the processor 210 to determine the specific command. The specificcommand may then be used to control the light beacon 102, 102A, or 102Band/or the speaker 108. The software for voice recognition may be partof, for example, the operating system 222 and/or the applications 224 inthe memory 220.

Additionally, while power sources may generally be grouped separatelyfrom the control circuitry 200, various aspects of the disclosure maygroup a power source with the control circuitry 200. For example,receiving power wirelessly or via wire, and then providing power to thelight beacon 102, 102A, or 102B, may be considered to be a function ofthe I/O module 240 where, for example, the input devices 242 receivesthe power and manages the power to be provided to the light beacon 102,102A, or 102B.

Various aspects of the disclosure may also comprise a notificationsystem where the control circuitry 200 is configured to provide visualand/or audible notification to the user of the welding protection device100 when the light beacon 102 and/or the speaker 108 is turned on. Forexample, when the light beacon 102 is turned on, an LED (not shown) maybe turned on so that it is visible to the user. The LED may be insidethe welding protection device 100 or external to the welding protectiondevice 100. The LED may be on steadily or blink at some rate, where oneof the rates may be, for example, the same rate as the flashing by thelight beacon 102. Various aspects of the disclosure may also providevisual notification by allowing a reflection of the light from the lightbeacon 102 to be visible to the user. For example, a reflection of theemitted light may be provided to be visible to the user, or a portion ofthe emitted light may guided to be visible to the user.

The emitted light may be reflected, for example, via a mirror, a portionof the eye protection shield 104, or any suitable material that reflectslight. The light guide for the emitted light may be, for example, anoptical fiber or a similar device. The light guide may also be, forexample, a path through the welding protection device 100 that allows aportion of the emitted light to be visible at the interior of thewelding protection device 100. The light beacon 102 may provide lightthat is directed toward the interior of the welding protection device100 via, for example, a hole in the welding protection device 100, atransparent portion of the welding protection device 100, etc.

Various aspects of the welding protection device 100 may allow theaudible output of the speaker 108 to be heard by the user wearing thewelding protection device 100. Various aspects of the welding protectiondevice 100 may also provide a speaker that may be in the interior of thewelding protection device 100 or exterior to the welding protectiondevice 100 to provide notification to the user. The audible notificationto the user may be the same audible warning output by the speaker 108 orsome other type of audible notification. For example, the audiblenotification may be a repeated sound, or a repeated phrase.

Accordingly, the control circuitry 200 may allow notification via lightand/or sound. The control circuitry 200 may also allow controlling theintensity of the notification light or the volume of the notificationsound, as well as a particular pattern of each. The notification may becontrolled by devices similar to those that allow controlling of thelight beacon 102 and/or the speaker 108.

Various aspects of the disclosure may also provide tactile notificationto the user via a vibration motor that may be a part of the outputdevices 244. The vibrations may indicate to the user that sound and/orlight are being emitted from the welding protection device 100. Turningon the vibration motor, adjusting the intensity of the vibration, andpatterns of the vibration may also be controlled by control devicessimilar to those described for controlling the light beacon 102 and/orthe speaker 108. Accordingly, feedback to the user of when the lightbeacon 102 is emitting light and/or the speaker 108 is emitting soundmay be provided by vibration, sound, or light.

Additionally, while various aspects of the disclosure were describedwith respect to a welding protection device, it can be seen that thedisclosure may apply to other types of protection devices. For example,various examples of the disclosure may also apply to protective used forgrinding, cutting, etc., for riding motor vehicles, or other head/faceprotection devices.

FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C are flow diagrams illustrating examples forcontrolling a light beacon on the welding protection device. FIG. 3A isan example flow diagram 300 with blocks 302 to 308. At block 302, thecontrol circuitry 200, for example, determines whether the light beacon102 should be turned on. When appropriate conditions are met, thecontrol circuitry 200 turns on the light beacon 102 at block 304. Flowdiagram 310 explains some of the appropriate conditions for turning onthe light beacon 102.

At block 306, the control circuitry 200, for example, determines whetherappropriate conditions are met to turn off the light beacon 102. Whenthe appropriate conditions are met, the control circuitry 200 turns offthe light beacon 102 at block 308. Some of the conditions for turningoff the light beacon 102 is described with respect to the flow diagram320. The next step is then to block 302 to wait for appropriateconditions to turn on the light beacon 102.

When the light beacon 102 is turned on or off in blocks 304 and 308,respectively, other functions may also be performed by the controlcircuitry 200. For example, sound may be emitted via the speaker 108.Additionally, light sensors 245 of the input devices 242 may detectambient light conditions and control an intensity of light emitted fromthe light beacon 102. Similarly, volume of the sound from the speaker108 may be controlled depending on ambient noise sensed by, for example,a microphone 243 that may be a part of the input devices 242. Avibrating motor may be a part of the output devices 244, and thevibrating motor may be turned on periodically or continuously to providetactile feedback to the user that the light beacon 102 is turned on.

Additionally, the control circuitry 200 may control a duty cycle oflights emitted by the light beacon 102, where the emitted light maycomprise one or more colors of light. For example, a first color may beturned on, then a second color may be turned on, etc., so that differentcolors may be emitted from the light beacon 102 as described above.

FIG. 3B is an example flow diagram 310, with blocks 312 and 314, fordetecting appropriate conditions for turning on the light beacon 102.Accordingly, in an example of the disclosure, the flow diagram 310 maybe used in place of the block 302. When the flow diagram 300 starts,there may be a determination by the control circuitry 200 whether, forexample, a user has put on the welding protection device 100. This maybe done in block 312 by the control circuitry 200 using, for example,sensors 245 in the input devices 242. The sensors 245 may be, forexample, proximity sensors to detect a head of the user, motion sensorsto detect the welding protection device being lifted and then placed onthe user's head, etc. The control circuitry 200 may, for example, loop,or wait for an interrupt, etc., until it is detected that the weldingprotection device 100 is on the user's head.

At block 314 the control circuitry 200 may determine whether the eyeprotection shield 104 is in a down position. The position of the eyeprotection shield 104 may be determined by switches and/or sensors 245in the input devices 242. A switch may be opened or closed when the eyeprotection shield 104 is in the up position or in the down position,respectively. For example, a proximity sensor may be used to determinewhether the eye protection shield 104 is in the up position or in thedown position. When it is determined that the eye protection shield 104is in the down position, the control circuitry 200 may turn on the lightbeacon 102 in block 304. While in block 314, the control circuitry 200may, for example, loop, or wait for an interrupt, etc., until it isdetected that the eye protection shield 104 is in a down position.

While this is one aspect of the disclosure, another aspect of thedisclosure may turn the beacon 102 on when the helmet is first put onthe head of the user. Still other aspects of the disclosure may have auser turn on and off the light beacon 102.

FIG. 3C is an example flow diagram 320 with blocks 322 and 324, fordetecting appropriate conditions for turning off the light beacon 102.Accordingly, in an example of the disclosure, the flow diagram 320 maybe used in place of the block 306. When the flow diagram 320 starts,there may be a determination by the control circuitry 200 whether theeye protection shield 104 is in the up position in block 322 or whetherthe welding protection device 100 has been taken off the user's head inblock 324. When either condition is true, the next step is to indicatethat the conditions have been met to turn off the light beacon 102.Accordingly, the light beacon is turned off in block 308.

In block 322, when the control circuitry 200 determines that the eyeprotection shield 104 is in the down position, the control circuitry mayloop, wait for an interrupt, etc., until it determines that the eyeprotection shield 104 is in the up position. Similarly, in block 324 thecontrol circuitry 200 may loop, wait for an interrupt, etc., until it isdetermined that the welding protection device 100 has been removed fromthe user's head.

While the control circuitry 200 has been described as performing variousfunctions (loop, wait for an interrupt, make determinations, etc.), itshould be understood that the processor 210 executes instructions inmemory 220 for performing various functions. For example, theinstructions may be a part of the applications 224, or some otherprogram that may be in the non-volatile memory 226 or the volatilememory 228.

It should be noted that any feature described for a specific figure mayalso apply to other figures.

Accordingly, it can be seen that the disclosure provides for aprotection device that comprises an eye protection shield, a lightbeacon configured to emit light in substantially all directions, and acontrol circuitry to control the light beacon. The protection device mayalso comprise a visor configured to block at least some light from thelight beacon from reaching a light sensor used for an auto-darkeningfeature for the eye protection shield. The control circuitry may beconfigured to turn on the light beacon at a time when the protectiondevice is put on a user and/or at a time when the eye protection shieldis in a down position. The control circuitry may be configured to turnoff the light beacon when the protection device is taken off and/or whenthe eye protection shield is in an up position.

That is, the control circuitry may be configured to perform one or bothof turn on the light beacon at a time when the protection device is on auser and turn off the light beacon when the protection device is takenoff the user. The control circuitry may be configured to turn on thelight beacon at a time when the eye protection shield is in a downposition and turn off the light beacon when the eye protection shield isin an up position.

The control circuitry may comprise one or more control devices such as,for example, a push-button switch, a toggle switch, slide switch, arotatable knob, and a touch panel. The control circuitry may alsocomprise a microphone configured to receive verbal commands from a userand/or detect ambient noise. The control circuitry may also beconfigured to control the light beacon to emit one of a constant lightor a flashing light, and when in a flashing light mode, the controlcircuitry may be used to adjust a duty cycle of the flashing light.

The control circuitry may be configured to control the light beacon toflash at a default duty cycle when the light beacon is turned on and thelight beacon is set to a flashing light mode. The control circuitry maybe configured to control the light beacon to flash at a previously setduty cycle when e light beacon is turned on and the light beacon is setto a flashing light mode.

Other examples of the disclosure may have the control circuitry isconfigured to control the light beacon to emit different colors oflight. For example, the control circuitry may be configured to controlthe light beacon to emit one of the different colors of light at a time,where there may be a period of time where a first color of light may beemitted for a first period of time and a second color of light may beemitted for a second period of time. There may also be a third period oftime between the first period of time and the second period of time whenno light is emitted by the light beacon.

The protection device may also comprise a speaker configured to output awarning sound, where the control circuitry is configured to output thewarning sound when the light beacon is turned on. The control circuitrymay also be configured to adjust a volume of the speaker and/or selectone of a plurality of different warning sounds and patterns.

The protection device may have at least a portion of the light beacon isremovably coupled to the protection device.

It can also be seen that the disclosure provides for a weldingprotection device that comprises an eye protection shield, a lightbeacon configured to emit light in substantially all directions, and acontrol circuitry configured to control operation of the light beacon.For example, the control circuitry may be configured to perform one ormore of: turn on the light beacon at a time when the welding protectiondevice is on a user, turn off the light beacon when the weldingprotection device is taken off the user, turn on the light beacon whenthe eye protection shield is in a down position, and turn off the lightbeacon when the eye protection shield is in an up position

As utilized herein the terms “circuits” and “circuitry” refer tophysical electronic components (i.e. hardware) and any software and/orfirmware (“code”) which may configure the hardware, be executed by thehardware, and or otherwise be associated with the hardware. As usedherein, for example, a particular processor and memory may comprise afirst “circuit” when executing a first one or more lines of code and maycomprise a second “circuit” When executing a second one or more lines ofcode. As utilized herein, “and/or” means any one or more of the items inthe list joined by “and/or.” As an example, “x and/or y” means anyelement of the three-element set {(x), (y), (x, y, z)}. In other words,“x and/or y” means “one or both of x and y”. As another example, “x, y,and/or z” means any element of the seven-element set {(x), (y), (z), (x,y), (x, z), (y, z), (x, y, z)}. In other words, “x, y and/or z” means“one or more of x, y and z”. As utilized herein, the term “exemplary”means serving as a non-limiting example, instance, or illustration. Asutilized herein, the terms “e.g.” and “for example” set off lists of oneor more non-limiting examples, instances, or illustrations. As utilizedherein, circuitry is “operable” to perform a function whenever thecircuitry comprises the necessary hardware and code (if any isnecessary) to perform the function, regardless of whether performance ofthe function is disabled or not enabled (e.g., by a user-configurablesetting, factory trim, etc).

The present methods and/or systems may be realized in hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software. The present methodsand/or systems may be realized in a centralized fashion in at least onecomputing system or in a distributed fashion where different elementsare spread across several interconnected computing systems. Any kind ofcomputing system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methodsdescribed herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware andsoftware may be a general-purpose computing system with a program orother code that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computingsystem such that it carries out the methods described herein. Anothertypical implementation may comprise an application specific integratedcircuit or chip. Some implementations may comprise a non-transitorymachine-readable (e.g., computer readable) medium (e.g., FLASH drive,optical disk, magnetic storage disk, or the like) having stored thereonone or more lines of code executable by a machine, thereby causing themachine to perform processes as described herein.

While the present method and/or system has been described with referenceto certain implementations, it will be understood by those skilled inthe art that various changes may be made and equivalents may besubstituted without departing from the scope of the present methodand/or system. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt aparticular situation or material to the teachings of the presentdisclosure without departing from its scope. Therefore, the presentmethod and/or system are not limited to the particular implementationsdisclosed. Instead, the present method and/or system will include allimplementations falling within the scope of the appended claims, bothliterally and under the doctrine of equivalents.

What are claimed:
 1. A protection device, comprising: an eye protectionshield; a light beacon configured to emit light in substantially alldirections; and a control circuitry to control the light beacon, whereinthe control circuitry is configured to control the light beacon to emitone of a constant light or a flashing light.
 2. The protection device ofclaim 1, comprising a visor configured to block at least some light fromthe light beacon from reaching a light sensor used for an auto-darkeningfeature for the eye protection shield.
 3. The protection device of claim1, wherein the control circuitry is configured to perform one or bothof: turn on the light beacon at a time when the protection device is ona user; and turn off the light beacon when the protection device istaken off the user.
 4. The protection device of claim 1, wherein thecontrol circuitry is configured to: turn on the light beacon at a timewhen the eye protection shield is in a down position; and turn off thelight beacon when the eye protection shield is in an up position.
 5. Theprotection device of claim 1, wherein the control circuitry comprisesone or more of: a push-button switch, a toggle switch, slide switch, arotatable knob, and a touch panel.
 6. The protection device of claim 1,wherein the control circuitry comprises a microphone.
 7. The protectiondevice of claim 1, wherein the control circuitry is configured to adjusta duty cycle of the flashing light.
 8. The protection device of claim 1,wherein the control circuitry is configured to control the light beaconto flash at a default duty cycle when the light beacon is turned on andthe light beacon is set to a flashing light mode.
 9. The protectiondevice of claim 1, wherein the control circuitry is configured tocontrol the light beacon to flash at a previously set duty cycle whenthe light beacon is turned on and the light beacon is set to a flashinglight mode.
 10. The protection device of claim 1, wherein the controlcircuitry is configured to control the light beacon to emit differentcolors of light.
 11. The protection device of claim 10, wherein thecontrol circuitry is configured to control the light beacon to emit oneof the different colors of light at a time.
 12. The protection device ofclaim 11, wherein the control circuitry is configured to control thelight beacon to emit a first color of light for a first period of timeand a second color of light for a second period of time.
 13. Theprotection device of claim 12, wherein there is a third period of timebetween the first period of time and the second period of time when nolight is emitted by the light beacon.
 14. The protection device of claim1, comprising a speaker configured to output a warning sound.
 15. Theprotection device of claim 14, wherein the control circuitry isconfigured to output the warning sound when the light beacon is turnedon.
 16. The protection device of claim 15, wherein the control circuitryis configured to adjust a volume of the speaker.
 17. The protectiondevice of claim 14, wherein the control circuitry is configured toselect one of a plurality of different warning sounds and patterns. 18.The protection device of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of thelight beacon is removably coupled to the protection device.
 19. Awelding protection device, comprising: an eye protection shield; a lightbeacon configured to emit light in substantially all directions; and acontrol circuitry configured to control operation of the light beacon,wherein the control circuitry is configured to: turn on the light beaconat a time when the welding protection device is on a user, and turn offthe light beacon when the welding protection device is taken off theuser.
 20. A protection device, comprising: an eye protection shield; alight beacon configured to emit light in substantially all directions;and a control circuitry to control the light beacon, wherein the controlcircuitry is configured to control the light beacon to emit a firstcolor of light for a first period of time and a second color of lightfor a second period of time, wherein the second color is different fromthe first color.